Deep in Space
by Gemini Artemis
Summary: On their way to Earth, Lapis is suspiciously miserable, Peridot is suspiciously skittish, and Jasper has no idea what to make of them. Set between "The Message" and "The Return".
**A/N:** This fic doesn't have much of a plot. I just really wanted to write Jasper and pre-redemption Peridot. Also, I read some fan theories and analysis about how Peridot seems to have a problem with being touched by bigger Gems and how Jasper seems to respect that, so I worked that into the fic, although not in detail. (Maybe later, haha!) Enjoy!

* * *

 **DEEP IN SPACE**

When Jasper caught wind of rumors about some sort of trouble on Earth, her interest was piqued. When there was mention of some rebellious Gems that dubbed themselves the "Crystal Gems", Jasper was definitely interested and eagerly volunteered when Yellow Diamond requested a Quartz soldier to escort the technician who had been assigned to check on the Cluster that was incubating inside the Earth.

Jasper was chosen for the job, naturally. Not only was she a strong, experienced soldier, she was one of the few Earth War veterans left and knew how to deal with these rebels. Personally, she really, really hoped to meet Rose Quartz. She knew that the leader of the rebellion had survived the war, and Jasper had sworn they would meet again on the battlefield to set the score between them once and for all.

The other rebels didn't really matter. They had only survived thanks to Rose Quartz's shield. Jasper had no interest in those weaklings. She just wanted to beat Rose Quartz into the ground. That technician had better not be making things up and wasting Jasper's time. She had planets to conquer in the name of Yellow Diamond.

She met the Peridot she was supposed to escort in the hangar of the hand warship, waiting for Jasper with an impatient frown on her green, visor-covered face, her metallic foot tapping noisily on the floor. Next to her stood a miserable-looking Lapis Lazuli who looked like she wished she could make herself invisible.

"You're late," the Peridot complained when Jasper approached the duo.

Jasper frowned at the rude Peridot. This was the problem with this younger generation of Gems. All bad attitude and no respect for a high-class soldier. As a general rule, Jaspers outranked Peridots by far, but this one was obviously of slightly higher rank than the common Peridot, since she was wearing the latest model of the limb enhancers that made her taller than her peers. All Peridots wore limb enhancers these days, but the higher they were in their own class, the taller they were allowed to be.

There was also the fact that this particular Peridot had been chosen, among thousands of Peridots, for an important mission on Earth, a planet of personal interest to Yellow Diamond. Jasper still outranked this Peridot, but she supposed she couldn't just pound her into the hangar floor for just a little slight, either.

Even with the limb enhancers, Jasper still towered over her easily, hoping that a little intimidation would improve the Peridot's manners somewhat. The Peridot did look a little bit unsettled, but refused to back down. She just glared back at Jasper, and the soldier couldn't help but feel a spark of admiration. In her experience, Peridots were wimpy little brats who would run for their lives at the slightest sign of danger.

"I was reading the reports for the mission," Jasper explained gruffly.

"You can read them on the ship," said Peridot. "My mission is already behind schedule, and the trip to Earth will take several days. We can't afford to waste any more time." With that, she turned around and entered the ship, her feet stomping with heavy metallic noises on the floor.

Jasper watched her go, peeved that the Peridot had simply turned her back to her without so much as a salute. She shifted her gaze to the Lapis Lazuli when the blue Gem hesitantly turned to follow Peridot into the ship.

"You must be the informant," said Jasper, noticing how Lapis seemed to shrink under her intense stare. She had, of course, read about the informant in the reports, although she didn't know all the details yet.

"Yes," Lapis answered curtly, frowning and avoiding her gaze as the both of them made their way into the ship. As soon as they stepped in, the entrance closed itself.

"Have you ever flown on a hand warship before?" Jasper asked, feeling a little disgruntled that Peridot had already disappeared and left her to deal with the sullen Lapis Lazuli.

"No," Lapis admitted, giving her a tentative, curious look. "I was imprisoned on Earth for the past five thousand years. We definitely didn't have anything like this back in my time."

"I suppose I should show you to your quarters, then," said Jasper, resigned with the fact that she was doing a menial Pearl job. She might as well, though. Peridot would be too busy piloting the ship.

The two Gems walked side by side. Lapis tried not to show it, but she was obviously impressed. She kept looking around, taking in the yellow veins on the walls and ceiling that provided light inside the ship. She looked nervous, too, as if she expected someone to jump around the corner and attack them at any moment.

"Um," Lapis mumbled and looked at Jasper. "Isn't there anyone else on board besides the three of us?" she asked.

"No," Jasper replied. "Peridot can pilot this small ship on her own. She has been trained for this."

"What about soldiers?" Lapis asked. "I thought there would be more?"

"I'm more than enough to handle a small group of rebels," said Jasper. She wasn't even gloating, just stating a fact. "You're safe. For now."

"No, I just—I—" Lapis stuttered and then cut herself off, having realized that she was better off keeping her mouth shut.

Jasper narrowed her eyes, thinking Lapis' behavior was rather peculiar. Jasper really needed to catch up on her reading before she could draw any conclusions, though.

"These will be your quarters," she said, opening the door to said quarters.

Lapis peeked inside, almost as if expecting it to be some sort of trap. She stepped in slowly and looked around, taking in the small room. This was a small warship, mostly designed for short-term missions and holding prisoners, so there wasn't much room. Granted, Lapis had been assigned the smallest room. Jasper was taking the largest room, naturally.

Lapis' quarters were mostly empty, as was standard for a Gem's room. She would custom it to her liking, if she wanted. There was a small platform for her to rest her physical construct, a computer, a storage cabin, and a very small think chamber. A small window offered a view of the outside.

" _Attention_ ," Peridot's voice was heard from all around the ship, startling Lapis. The two Gems looked up and listened to Peridot's announcement. " _W_ _e will be taking off in five minutes_ _._ _Come to the bridge immediately._ "

"We'd better go," Jasper grumbled. "If this mission is delayed a minute longer, we'll never hear the end of it." She flashed Lapis a sardonic smirk, which Lapis tentatively returned with a tiny, amused smile of her own before following after Jasper to the bridge.

-x-

The first few days of the trip to Earth were predictably tedious. Peridot just stayed on the bridge, regularly checking on the ship's system to make sure everything was running smoothly. Sometimes, she would be caught recording her logs with her technical jibber-jabber that mostly went over Jasper's head. Lapis, for her part, stayed locked up in her quarters. Jasper hadn't seen or heard from her since their departure from Homeworld.

Jasper spent most of her time reading the reports, at least at first. She would occasionally take a break to stretch her legs and clear her head. Reading reports was part of her duties, but it definitely wasn't what she had been made for. After hours reading, her body felt stiff and her head hurt. She couldn't stand to do this kind of thing for too long. Peridot could read these things nonstop for days, and she often did, both due to her work as a technician and because she just enjoyed reading, apparently. Jasper, on the other hand, was a soldier. She needed to exercise her muscles.

Sometimes, she would take advantage of her large quarters to do some physical training, doing push-ups, kicking and punching at the air, jumping, lifting weights. And sometimes, more out of boredom than anything, she would walk around the ship, silently checking up on Peridot, Lapis' closed door, the empty prisoner cells, and the ship's energy core.

She had been on countless intergalactic trips, some even longer than this one, but it never failed to drive her near insane from sheer boredom.

For the first time since take-off, she decided to go and actually talk to Peridot. Maybe something interesting would come out of it.

She found the technician, unsurprisingly, on the bridge, sitting in front of the flat control panel, green-colored codes covering her eyes as her floating fingers moved around the panel. She didn't acknowledge Jasper's presence. Jasper decided to remedy this with a tap on her back.

She started to call Peridot's name, but the first syllable died in her lips when Peridot responded to Jasper's touch with a violent jerk and a frigthened yelp, as if it had physically hurt her. Jasper herself was startled by this reaction and withdrew her hand quickly just as Peridot turned around in her seat to face her, the codes fading to reveal wide, fearful green-tinted eyes.

Jasper just stared at her, part of her wondering if Peridot had been doing something she wasn't supposed to do. Peridot just blinked and relaxed, frowning grumpily. "Oh, it's just you," she muttered. "What do you want, Jasper?"

"Who did you think it was?" Jasper wondered. "You're not afraid of Lapis Lazuli, are you?"

"What. Do. You. Want?" Peridot asked again, biting out each word rather emphatically.

It was quite obvious that an explanation for her strange reaction wasn't forthcoming, and it wasn't like Jasper really cared, so she shrugged it off. "I'm bored," she replied honestly.

"And you've come to me because...?" Peridot inquired, looking and sounding very unimpressed.

"I figured talking to you would be better than nothing," said Jasper, again being completely honest rather than intentionally trying to rile up the other Gem, although Peridot's visibly growing exasperation _was_ amusing to look at. Jasper smirked and leaned on the back of Peridot's seat. The green Gem leaned away from her, her floating fingers gripping her seat, but she didn't stand up.

"Well, I'm busy," said Peridot, glaring at her. "I don't have time to entertain you, and even if I did, I wouldn't waste it on any frivolous activities with you, as it is not my function. I'm not a Pearl."

"How come you're so busy?" Jasper asked.

"Jasper, in case you haven't noticed, I'm the only one responsible for the ship here!" Peridot said, flailing her arms in frustration.

Jasper's eyes were drawn to the floating fingers as they accompanied the arms with just a millisecond of delay. The way they moved and the quiet whirring sounds they made were almost hypnotic.

Unaware that Jasper was barely listening, Peridot went on talking. "There are a million things I have to keep track of all by myself! There's only so much the ship's system can do safely without my supervision! If anything happens to this ship—if it gets so much as a scratch—Do you have any idea what will happen to me? Not to mention that this mission is very important and I can't fall any more behind schedule, and..."

Jasper stopped listening completely at this point. She looked at the large window in front of the control panel, but it wasn't much more interesting than Peridot's rant. Space could be amazing, for sure, but not all of it. Sometimes it was just bright dots on black, and while it was an interesting sight for a first-time traveler, it got old fast. Jasper couldn't even remember a time when she had enjoyed it.

"Are you even listening to me?!" Peridot's yelling interrupted her musings. "If I'm boring you, there's no point to your presence here anymore, so leave me alone and go bother the Lazuli!"

"That's actually a good idea," said Jasper. "She's been hiding in her room all this time. It's suspicious."

"Are you joking me?" Peridot asked. "Didn't you read the reports for this mission?"

"Of course I did!" Jasper snapped, annoyed at the implication that she didn't take her mission seriously. However, she looked sideways and grumbled, "I may have skipped some excerpts that didn't look that important, though."

"It's a report, Jasper! Every bit of information in it is important!"

"Your reports are too wordy," Jasper criticized. "You spent two pages just describing the technicalities of ancient wailing stones and their compatibility with modern transmitters."

"Yes, well, if you had bothered to read the rest of that particular report," Peridot started, her voice lowering to a monotone, "you would have learned that the Lapis Lazuli was caught sending a message about our plans to the 'Steven' and, supposedly, the so-called 'Crystal Gems' as well. She was accused of spying and was interrogated."

"So she's our prisoner?" Jasper concluded, a little surprised and also annoyed at herself for skipping such important information.

"Not exactly a prisoner," said Peridot, speaking more quietly. Not that she was whispering, but she seemed to be trying to regain her composure and act like the cold, reason-driven technician she was supposed to be. "Her loyalty to Homeworld is still unclear. We have to keep an eye on her. She hasn't locked herself up in her quarters. _I've_ been keeping her there, watching her every move. If there's any sign that she is on the Crystal Gems' side, we are to throw her into a cell and bring her back to Homeworld where she'll be tried for high treason and spying."

"I see," said Jasper neutrally, her mind reeling from all this information that wasn't supposed to be new to her.

"I strongly suggest that you return to your quarters and actually read those reports word by word before you do something foolish like let the Lazuli out of her room unsupervised."

Although Jasper didn't care for Peridot's tone and attitude, she couldn't deny that she had messed up and Peridot's suggestion was actually valid.

-x-

Back in her room, sitting in front of her screen, Jasper reread the reports thoroughly, paying extra attention to the excerpts that mentioned Lapis Lazuli.

A very old Gem, originally a member of Blue Diamond's court, Lapis Lazuli was captured by the rebels on Earth after her gem got cracked in an ambush and they put it in a special object to power it with her Gem magic. She was kept there for a very long time, until a human child found her and removed her gem from the object. The human apparently even healed her cracked gem, and while Lapis Lazuli was indeed trying to ensure this child's safety out of gratitude, she claimed she absolutely hated the Crystal Gems and would never willingly work with them.

The lie detectors weren't set off by any of these claims, so while Lapis Lazuli was still under suspicion and had to be monitored closely, all evidence pointed to the truth in that Lapis only cared about repaying her life debt to the human child, who was probably a prisoner or a servant to the Crystal Gems. To prove her innocence and loyalty to Homeworld, Lapis would be acting as an informant and help locate the rebels.

Now that Jasper had all the information she needed, she was ready to check up on their informant. Peridot was probably still monitoring Lapis Lazuli through the ship's system, but Jasper didn't have much else to do, and if Peridot was as busy multitasking as she had claimed, she would surely appreciate having one less task off her list.

Without announcing herself, Jasper unlocked the door to Lapis' room. She was a bit taken aback that Lapis hadn't changed anything about the room. The blue Gem herself was sitting on the floor in a curled up position, looking as helpless and miserable as if she were actually being held prisoner in a cell.

"Hey," Jasper greeted her, smirking when Lapis looked at her in surprised. Apparently, Lapis had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't even noticed Jasper's arrival.

"Oh. H-hello, Jasper," Lapis replied, her eyes wide. "Can I... help you?"

"Just checking up on you."

"Okay..." Lapis fell into a nervous silence and looked away, looking troubled.

Even after reading the reports about Lapis, Jasper couldn't figure out why she always looked so nervous and sad. Was it because she was being forced to go back to Earth after her long time imprisoned there? Was she actually a spy who knew she had been caught and was under constant vigilance?

"Is something the matter?" Jasper asked. "You look worried."

"Oh..." Lapis glanced at her and bit her lip. "I guess I'm just... still a little overwhelmed by how different everything has become," she explained quietly. "I didn't feel at home on Homeworld at all."

Jasper grunted. "I know what you mean. Homeworld really is different now. Gems like Peridot have come up with all that new technology that even I have some trouble keeping up with sometimes. But you'll get used to it."

Lapis met her gaze in wonder. This was probably the first time that fear and sadness weren't the dominant emotions in her expression. Jasper didn't really appreciate the look she was getting, though. She had gotten it several times in the past. Everyone seemed to assume that a soldier like her couldn't say anything remotely friendly or non-threatening, like she was some sort of war machine.

Irritated, she looked away and turned her gaze to the small window to watch the stars. The view was as uninteresting as ever. Her frown deepened.

"So, you fought on Earth?" Lapis asked, and Jasper looked at her again.

"Yes," she answered curtly. "What about you? Did you fight, or were you a strategist?"

"I..." Lapis frowned and resumed her defensive position. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"All right," Jasper said, shrugging. She turned around to leave. "I still have some reports to read, anyway."

Just when she was about to leave, she looked back over her shoulder to see Lapis looking as morose as she had upon Jasper's arrival. It really was a pathetic sight.

"You know," said Jasper, "you can leave your quarters if you want."

Lapis' head snapped up in surprise. "I... thought I was a prisoner?"

"If you were a prisoner, you would be in one of the _prisoner_ cells," Jasper pointed out, rolling her eyes at how foolish Lapis was being. "I'll let Peridot know. But remember, if you try anything funny..." she trailed off, trusting Lapis to infer what she meant. She didn't even wait for a response before marching out of the room.

-x-

Jasper spent the next couple of days cooped up in her quarters again. She had reread the reports twice now, with breaks for her physical exercises. Eventually, she decided to check up on Peridot.

Once again, she found the technician on the bridge. Stars, had she stayed there all this time? Did she ever get up from that chair at all?

Peridot was talking to herself—either she was recording a log or she had finally gone insane from getting too much system code going through her head. From the sound of her voice, Jasper's suspicions that she had never left the bridge to get some rest were virtually confirmed. She sounded tired and cranky. Crankier than usual.

At least she wasn't going through codes in her head again. She had her own screen open in front of her, showing what appeared to be some sort of blueprint. With the remaining finger floating over her right hand, she was making modifications to the blueprint. She was leaning on the control panel with her left elbow, her left-hand fingers pressing and tapping against her gem as if she had a headache or were urging her head to keep working and thinking.

"Hey, Peridot—" Jasper began, landing a good-natured hand on the small Gem's thin shoulder. She was cut off when Peridot overreacted to her touch again, yelping and getting up on her feet to turn around, leaning back on the panel.

It took them both longer to recover from the surprise this time. Peridot's shocked face morphed into a glower.

"Jasper, stop sneaking up on me like that!" she shouted.

"It's not my fault you're always distracted and unaware of your surroundings," Jasper countered. "You shouldn't lower your guard like that. If I actually wanted to harm you, you'd be dead before you even knew what hit you."

Peridot flinched and crossed her arms defensively around herself. Jasper really couldn't figure out why such a young Gem, a mere technician at that, was so jumpy around her.

"What do you want?" Peridot asked, in that tone of voice that made it clear that she wanted Jasper to leave her alone as soon as possible.

Jasper looked her up and down, taking in her shaky legs and her pinched face. She looked as tired as she sounded. Gems were the toughest creatures Jasper knew of in the universe. Even small, physically weak Gems like Peridots were more durable than most organic beings, in the sense that they could work for days on end without diminishing in performance. The fact that Gems didn't need to sleep or eat to function helped.

However, that didn't mean that they didn't need to take a break once in a while. If they pushed themselves too hard, they would start showing signs of exhaustion similar to those of organic lifeforms, and if they kept it up, they might even be forced to retreat to their gems. There was only so much energy their gems could provide to not only sustain their bodies but also keep their physical strength and mental faculties.

"You're overworking yourself," Jasper declared. "If there's a technical emergency, you'll be unable to deal with it in this condition and you'll put the crew and the whole mission in jeopardy. I order you to get some rest right now."

"I don't have time for your nonsense," Peridot talked back. "If you want someone to boss around, go to the Lazuli. I'm busy!"

"I'm serious, Peridot," Jasper growled, growing weary of Peridot's attitude and blatant disrespect. "You will leave this room and go to your quarters even if I have to drag you there by force!"

"You can't! I-I mean, you wouldn't dare!" Peridot faultered, her whole body shaking now as Jasper towered over her. "Who will supervise the ship?"

"I'm sure the ship's system can handle it for a little while," Jasper argued, approaching Peridot and cornering her against the control panel.

"No! Stay away from me!" Peridot yelled. Her angry shouts turned into shrill shrieks when Jasper grabbed one of the robotic hands. "Jasper, let go of me! Let go!" she hollered, struggling uselessly even though Jasper wasn't even putting that much force into her grip.

"Stop being a stubborn twerp!" Jasper shouted back, trying to grab Peridot's other, flailing arm. "Why are you freaking out like this? I'm doing this for your own good!"

Peridot ignored her and just kept screaming bloody murder, her free hand grabbing for the control panel for support. She ended up activating the command for a gem destabilizer to appear. She took it in her hand and tried to hit Jasper with it, but her attempts were clumsy at best. Peridot had obviously never been in a fight, and Jasper herself was an experienced soldier. In a matter of seconds, Jasper managed to take the destabilizer from Peridot.

"Jasper? Jasper!" she heard Lapis call her from somewhere outside the bridge.

Jasper turned to the door, expecting Lapis to enter. Peridot lunged at her again to try to take back the destabilizer and Jasper's body moved as if on its own to defend herself. She struck Peridot in the chest with the destabilizer. When she realized what she had done, Peridot's body was already deconstructing itself. Peridot only had time to look at her in utter horror before she finally retreated into her gem. Jasper watched as the green triangular gem fell lifelessly on the floor, along with the limb enhancers.

"Crud," she muttered, deactivating the destabilizer in her hand. "At least now she'll get some rest, I guess."

"Jasper!" Lapis called again as she finally reached the bridge. She froze at the door and widened her eyes when she saw Jasper and Peridot's disembodied gem. "I heard screaming..." Lapis said quietly. "What's going on? What happened to Peridot?" She stepped back, obviously fearing that she would be Jasper's next target.

"We just had a disagreement," Jasper replied. She looked back at the control panel, dearly hoping that Peridot had set the ship on autopilot before this whole exchange. Jasper herself only had very basic knowledge of piloting, and she didn't suppose Lapis knew the first thing about modern warships.

-x-

Jasper sat in front of the control panel, her fingers tapping her knees nervously. She hadn't had to fly a ship in centuries, although she had been taught to as part of her training. This ship was one of the latest models, however, with this strange technology that connected the pilot's mind directly to the ship's system. Jasper had never tried to fly a ship with this kind of technology before.

She risked a glance at Lapis, who was standing next to her and staring at the panel with blank, uncomprehending eyes. No help from there, either. With a sigh, Jasper put her hands on the glowing green panel.

It tingled. Jasper shuddered at the strange, not too pleasant sensation. Codes flew across her sight and settled around her. She couldn't understand much. She could see the codes that represented the ship's different sections, its position on the star map, and its route, but some codes were blinking, some were changing rapidly (was it measuring the distance to their destination?), and one particular code was colored yellow.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" she could hear Lapis ask, although she couldn't see her, at least not as long as her hands were in the control panel.

"I'm not doing anything. I'm just looking," Jasper grumbled. "The ship is still moving towards the Earth. Peridot must have left it on autopilot. She wasn't controlling the ship when I came in."

She really, really hoped she was correct in her assessment, since they were bound to be awhile without their official pilot. Peridot and her limb enhancers were safely tucked away in the technician's quarters, amidst a mess of machines, screens, wires, and tools. For all Jasper knew, this could be the first time Peridot had lost her physical form. Did Peridot even realize what had happened or where she was? If this was her first time getting poofed, it might take her a while to figure out what she was supposed to do. Jasper trusted she was smart enough to do it before they arrived on Earth.

"So, everything is okay?" Lapis asked.

Jasper removed her hands from the panel, sighing in relief when the codes disappeared from her sight and the front window came into view.

"Yes, for the last time, everything is fine," she assured Lapis. "Go back to your quarters. I'll stay here and keep an eye on the ship until Peridot comes back."

Lapis acquiesced wordlessly and left the bridge. Jasper didn't pay her any mind. She was too busy thinking about Peridot's unusual behavior.

Peridot seemed like a rather high-strung Gem. Most Peridots were a little edgy, but usually that meant that they avoided other types of Gems and had to always be working on something, otherwise they started getting really antsy. They really weren't very sociable Gems at all, much preferring the company of their screens and robonoids. Even when two or more Peridots had to work together, they worked in silence and only spoke to provide strictly necessary information to each other, always in a business-like manner. Idle chatting was neither common nor encouraged.

At least Jaspers, like other Quartz-type Gems, would form a camaraderie among themselves and occasionally talk about things unrelated to their work as soldiers. They would go to places even if it wasn't part of their mission, just to see other Gems and find something entertaining to do.

This Peridot, however, was a little different from the others. The unsociability, the taciturn moodiness, the obsession with work and technology, those were all there. But she turned her high-strungness into loud, exaggerated outbursts. A fiery temper, maddening stubbornness, and above all, freaking out at a simple touch as if Jasper were a Gem assassin out to get her.

Jasper knew she could be intimidating, with her imposing size and experience in battle, but she had never gotten such a terrified reaction from a coworker, and especially not from the very Gem she was supposed to escort. It was the kind of reaction she usually got from prisoners who knew they were guilty of some crime and were about to face the consequences.

Something was amiss with this Peridot. Maybe she was hiding something. Was she a spy? Was she in cahoots with Lapis Lazuli? Jasper needed to find out what was going on. With an anticipating shudder, she braced herself to dip her hands into the control panel again. The tingling feeling washed through her body again, although this time it didn't feel as unpleasant.

The codes and data from the ship's system zoomed into her mind's eyes again. Jasper dismissed them and looked for the most recently updated directories and files. Fortunately, this task was simple enough for a non-technician.

She didn't find any incriminating evidence, or even anything remotely suspicious. Mostly it was just reports and logs. After hours of fruitless search, Jasper finally took her hands off the panel and left the bridge, trusting the autopilot to do its job.

She headed for Peridot's quarters. Upon entry, she noticed that the technician was still regenerating in her gem. Non-warriors would usually take longer to regenerate, so Jasper wasn't worried. Even if Peridot knew what to do, it would probably take her at least a couple of days. More than long enough for Jasper to inspect Peridot's logs and data stored in her limb enhancers.

She did her best not to step on any of the machines lying around, knowing that they would easily break under her weight and that would surely make Peridot even angrier when she reformed. She picked up one of Peridot's robotic arms and turned it over in her own hands, trying to figure out how to activate them. They didn't seem to have any buttons. How did Peridot operate them?

There was a green glow from behind her, and Jasper turned around in time to see a fully reformed and very tiny Peridot staring at her in shock. Her gaze shifted from Jasper to the limb enhancer and then back to Jasper. Shock turned into rage, her lips pulling into a scowl.

"What do you think you're doing to my limb enhancers?!" she yelled. Then, she seemed to remember something and pointed an accusing finger at Jasper, who stood frozen. "You! You poofed me! How could you do this to me? You—you traitor! I'm reporting this! I'm—I'm—" she trailed off, her pointing finger falling slack and her eyes widening as she focused on something behind Jasper.

The soldier looked back to see that it was Lapis' sudden arrival that had interrupted Peridot's tirade. The blue Gem looked quite shocked herself. She stared at Peridot for a moment, looking her up and down, then she looked at Jasper, at the limb enhancers in Jasper's hand, and back at Peridot.

"Um..." she said eloquently. "I'm sorry if this is a bad time, but a red message started blinking and beeping on a screen and it looks important..." she said, a little timidly, and rubbed her arm. "Also, when I looked out the window, there was a wall of meteorites coming right at us."

Just when Lapis finished delivering the rather alarming news, the whole room flashed in red and a danger alert made itself heard with deafeningly loud, repetitive sounds. Jasper reacted almost automatically to it, dropping the limb enhancer and rushing to the bridge without a glance at the other two Gems. Lapis just barely had time to dodge her.

On the bridge, a screen was showing the blinking red code that Lapis had mentioned, along with other data that indicated several large objects rapidly approaching the ship. Even without the screen, the meteorites were already visible to the naked eye through the front window. They were far away, but the ship moved very fast and it would reach them very soon at this rate.

"You stupid clods!" Jasper heard Peridot yell. When she looked at the technician, she was already back in her limb enhancers. She, too, was looking at the imminent danger with a vexed look on her face. "How could you let this happen?! Surely the ship's system detected this several hours ago, when there was still plenty of time to change the ship's route to avoid a collision?!"

Jasper considered her words. Now that Peridot had mentioned it, Jasper remembered the suspicious yellow message that she had seen when she had checked the system's files. She should have realized it was some sort of warning.

"Can't you do anything?" Lapis asked, her eyes full of fear looking at the growing wave of meteorites.

Peridot didn't even bother responding with words. She just shoved Jasper out of the way and threw herself onto the pilot chair to sink her floating fingers into the control panel. It pained Jasper to think about it, but their lives were in this skittish Peridot's hands now. There was nothing Jasper could do to help.

At Peridot's command, the ship started changing its trajectory, though not nearly fast enough. For all her tough warrior exterior, Jasper found herself screaming along with her two companions when the meteorites came so close to the ship that they were all the Gems could see. The alarm was even louder now, drowning out their screams.

Suddenly, a loud crash was heard and the whole ship shook with enough force to catapult the three Gems into the air. Peridot hit the front window face-first, while Lapis was thrown against the ceiling and Jasper hit the nearest wall.

Dizzy from both the impact and the unsteady motion of the ship, Peridot crawled back to her seat and feverishly worked on getting the ship back in control. There was another meteorite coming in their direction.

This time, Peridot manage to maneuver the ship out of the way and avoid more damage. She deftly made the ship move left and right, up and down, dodging the seemingly unending stream of meteorites, although sometimes she just barely avoided a collision.

Jasper and Lapis held on to the back of her seat as the ship swayed with abrupt movements. They kept shouting warnings and instructions to Peridot, who just cursed like an Amethyst and yelled that they were distracting her instead of helping.

All the screaming and the alarm noises were making Jasper's head hurt, and she wondered how Peridot could still pilot the ship through the meteorite ring as if it were just a game. She deserved a medal for that feat, even though she was just a Peridot.

Fortunately, it was over before she knew it. There were less and less meteorites, and then nothing. The ship was on a steady course to Earth again, and the alarms were deactivated. Lapis collapsed in relief, and Jasper would probably have done the same, if she didn't have her warrior pride.

She expected Peridot to relax as well, but the technician barely allowed herself a small, tired sigh before getting back to work. She started running a scan on the ship's system and recording a report.

"This is Peridot Facet 2F5L Cut 5XG. Due to some security issues, the ship was damaged upon entering the meteorite ring on the outskirts of Earth's solar system," she said in a monotone, almost robotic voice, as if she hadn't just avoided death by a thread a minute ago. "The damage is superficial and can be fixed before our arrival on Earth. The mission will continue according to schedule."

Having finished her brief report, Peridot got up from the pilot chair and headed for the exit, without sparing even a glance to the other Gems.

"Where are you going?" Jasper demanded to know.

Peridot paused at the door and looked back at her, her eyes narrowing in contempt. "I'm going to fix the damage, obviously."

"Can we help?" Lapis offered, still sitting on the floor.

"No," was Peridot's flat reply before she left.

-x-

Apparently, the damage to the ship couldn't be fixed from the inside, or maybe Peridot just wanted to get away from the other two Gems for a while. Jasper could just watch from the pilot seat, through one of the screens, as Peridot walked around the ship's hull, her robotic feet—or "gravity connectors," as Peridot would say—keeping her from floating away into space.

It was a wonder that Peridot had to go and do the repair work herself. Peridots were usually employed to fix programs or anything that actually required them to think about what they needed to do. When the damage was merely physical and superficial, their robonoids would take care of it. Come to think of it, Jasper hadn't seen any robonoids on the ship at all, which was rather unusual with a technician Gem on board.

"There, good as new," she heard Peridot remark through the communicator. She sounded proud of herself.

Minutes later, Peridot was back on the bridge, wearing her usual scowl.

"Thank you for supervising the ship while I cleaned up your mess, Jasper," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "But I'd better take it from here before you thrust the ship into a comet or a black hole or something." She gave Jasper a small shove, signaling that the warrior should get up and let her sit down. "Now, if you excuse me, I have a report to write."

Jasper grudgingly let Peridot take her seat in front of the control panel and watched as she summoned a new screen and started typing furiously. Jasper stood right behind her, her eyes narrowing as she read some snippets of Peridot's report.

 _... suspicious behavior... intimidation attempts... verbal harassment... obstruction of my duties... abuse of power and rank... physically assaulted me while I was unarmed... sabotaged the ship... should be suspended and demoted... treason against Homeworld..._

"Wait a minute!" Jasper exclaimed. "Are you ratting me out?!"

Peridot paused in her typing and turned around to give her a look of absolute contempt, as if Jasper were nothing but a pebble.

"Obviously," she replied. "I did say I was going to report you."

"But I didn't mean to hit you with the destabilizer! You're the one who tried to attack me!" Jasper protested and pointed angrily at the screen. "And I didn't sabotage the ship! It was an accident!"

"You still damaged one of Yellow Diamond's warships and almost got us killed," Peridot pointed out flatly. "What do you expect me to do?"

"Don't send that report," said Jasper.

"I have to send a report, Jasper. It's _protocol_."

Jasper sighed heavily, inwardly cursing all Peridots' obsessive adherence to bureaucracy.

"Then don't word it like that!" she shouted, waving a hand at the report on the screen. "Don't blame me for the ship's damage!"

"But it _was_ your fault!" Peridot said, impatience growing in her voice. "How else am I going to explain the damage? The technicians back on Homeworld will know it happened. I can't leave it out of the report."

"Then say there was a problem with the ship's system and it failed to detect the danger."

"Oh ho ho, right!" Peridot was being sarcastic again. "Do you really think I'm taking the blame for this? It's my job to make sure the ship's system is working to perfection. If I overlooked a huge problem like that and caused the ship to crash, I'd be severely punished! There's no way I'm getting in trouble with my superiors because of you!"

Jasper growled, her patience running thin. She did understand where Peridot was coming from, but she was just being difficult now. That report was an exaggeration and Peridot didn't seem to care that _Jasper_ would be unfairly punished because of it. She wasn't a traitor and she hadn't meant to intimidate or attack Peridot. For someone who claimed to value objectivity, Peridot had no qualms about distorting the facts to suit herself.

"You listen here, you tiny twerp," she snarled, her hands grabbing for the front of Peridot's uniform. "Don't you dare send that—"

She was cut off by Peridot's high-pitched yelp at the sudden, rough contact. Her metallic arms were raised defensively to cover her face, especially her gem, and she whimpered, her eyes closed. Jasper was once again taken aback, to the point she felt awkward holding Peridot menacingly.

"Why do you keep overreacting like this?" she asked, letting go of her. "What do you think I'm going to do to you?" It was a honest question. Just because she was much bigger and stronger than Peridot, not to mention higher-ranked, didn't mean she would resort to violence at the smallest provocation. She might lose her temper and get a little rough, but she had never actually intended to beat Peridot up or anything of the sort. And yet, Peridot kept acting like she would, whenever she so much as lay a finger on her.

Peridot said nothing in reply, just opened her eyes to stare at Jasper with a mix of annoyance, suspicion, and fear. Her arms were still shielding her face.

"What, do you get beaten up a lot by other Jaspers or something?" Jasper ventured a guess.

Seeing that Jasper had backed out and calmed down, Peridot also allowed herself to drop her defensive stance. She looked away and shrugged, shaking her head silently in what Jasper assumed to be a negative answer to her question.

"I don't like being touched by other Gems," she finally explained, her expression sour. "I don't like fighting. I always lose."

"Well, maybe you wouldn't get into fights if you weren't so cheeky," Jasper remarked, narrowing her eyes. "You've been nothing but disrespectful to me since the beginning of the mission."

Peridot looked like she was about to deliver another tongue-lashing, and then seemed to realize that this was exactly what Jasper was criticizing her for and she pursed her lips, puffing out her cheeks.

"See, that's better," Jasper commented, smirking. She raised her hand, intent on ruffling Peridot's impossibly rigidly geometric hair in a teasing manner, but stopped herself when she noticed Peridot flinch. Her smirk turned into a frown. "Now delete that atrocious report. I'll write a more accurate one for you."

She stared down at Peridot, who looked very much like she wished she could literally bite Jasper's head off. The technician fumed and grumbled, but eventually gave in and deleted the report, to Jasper's relief. Appeased, Jasper turned around and headed for her quarters.

She didn't really believe that Peridot had told her the whole truth. Such young Gems didn't get that jumpy around stronger, higher-ranking Gems for no reason. Granted, Peridots—much like other non-warrior types—usually avoided unnecessary touching. Soldiers, such as Jaspers, Amethysts, and Rubies, on the other hand, were touchy-feely Gems. They always patted each other on the back, held each other by the shoulders, ruffled each other's hair, roughhoused, and sometimes they would outright fight each other just because. It was their way. She knew other types of Gems thought it was strange sometimes, but never had it gotten such a negative, fearful reaction.

Besides, something didn't quite fit. If Peridot was so scared of getting into a fight and being touched, why was she so abrasive? One would think she would be more obedient and keep her sassy thoughts to herself to avoid angering other Gems.

Her fearful reactions were too instantaneous, and they were covered up and replaced with anger too quickly. It was like an automatic reaction that Peridot was trying to train herself out of. Maybe she did have some sort of trauma and was trying to hide it or to get over it through continuous exposition to the triggering situation.

Jasper sighed in frustration. She was a soldier, made for fighting. She wasn't cut out for this psychological nonsense, although she had been trained to understand fear and manipulate it to her advantage. After all, fear could be a powerful ally in battle, when instilled masterfully into the adversary.

She supposed it wasn't her place to try to understand Peridot and her personal issues, anyway. She was just her escort. All she had to do was make sure that Peridot was safe during the mission on Earth, and that Peridot _felt_ safe enough to focus on her job. If refraining from touching Peridot would make her feel safer, then Jasper would just have to comply. Even if Peridot was being an annoying, sassy twerp.

At any rate, Jasper had more important things to think about than a puny Peridot's traumas. She had a report to write and maybe a battle against Rose Quartz to look forward to.

-x-

Lapis peered into the bridge to make sure that Jasper wasn't around. Peridot sat at her usual place in front of the strange control panel, though she didn't seem to be doing anything. Lapis quietly approached her and joined her in staring at the front window.

The sun from Earth's system was already visible. They would be arriving very soon. Lapis dreaded the moment they would finally reach the small blue planet. She wondered if Steven had gotten her warning and gone into hiding. She had initially assumed that Homeworld would send at least a whole squad to crush what remained of the rebellion, but even though it had turned out to be just one bored Jasper, Lapis still feared for Steven's life.

She really wanted to do something to help him. Something more than just warning him. She wished she could use the ship's system to contact Steven again and pass more information. For a moment, Lapis even entertained the thought of knocking out this tiny Peridot while she had her back to her, and taking over the ship.

As if reading her mind, the Peridot turned her head a little, just enough to glare at Lapis through narrowed, wary eyes. She didn't look scared at all, and it occurred to Lapis that the bridge was probably equipped with weapons that Peridot could activate with literally a flick of the wrist. Lapis wasn't entirely sure what had happened between Peridot and Jasper, but she could guess that if Peridot hadn't expected her own escort to attack her, she looked like she was keeping a very close eye on Lapis.

Even though she was technically free to roam the ship now, she was still a prisoner. Peridot had certainly been watching her every move all this time, even before they had boarded the ship. She was the one who had caught Lapis sending sensitive information to Homeworld's enemy, after all. She was the one who had reported Lapis, and she had been there during her interrogation.

The coward. As much as she seemed intimidated by weapons used against her, she had no qualms about watching Lapis get threatened or tortured by other Gems. Peridot had just stood back and watched dispassionately, taking notes and even suggesting more advanced, effective ways to get Lapis to cooperate.

Lapis hated her. Peridot didn't have an ounce of sympathy in her small projected body. She was cold and cruel, and all she cared about was efficiency. Lapis had actually thought she must be a robot or at least half-machine, given her robotic limbs and apathetic cruelty. She had realized she was wrong when she had seen Peridot retreat into her Gem, without her robotic limbs, but she still wondered. At the very least, she was sure Peridot _wished_ she was a robot.

"Remember, Lazuli," Peridot spoke, startling Lapis out of her thoughts. "Just tell us where their base is and I will vouch for your reintegration into Homeworld society as a free Gem."

By "free", of course, she meant "alive and not imprisoned in a cell or in another Gem artifact." Lapis was old enough to know that no Gem was actually free on Homeworld. Not while the Diamond Authority was in power. This was another reason why Lapis hated Peridot; the technician was not only completely loyal to Yellow Diamond, she was obsessed with her and the Diamond Authority. She didn't even fear them or respect them as the leaders. She absolutely _adored_ them and saw them as perfect, flawless beings. It was sickening.

Peridot was also the one who had thought to use Lapis as her "informant" about Earth and the Crystal Gems. What Peridot didn't know was that while Lapis hated the Crystal Gems for keeping her imprisoned for so long—hence how Lapis had gotten through the lie detectors—she was very fond of Steven and would try to keep his existence and true nature a secret for as long as possible.

Despite the weight of defeat and helplessness on her shoulders, Lapis swore to herself that she would protect Steven, even if it meant eventually having to convince him to surrender without a fight so that Homeworld would go easy on him.

As for Peridot and Jasper, Lapis would bid her time to take revenge on them. Especially Peridot. Lapis didn't know how or when, but even if it took her thousands of years more, she would get back at them for treating her like a prisoner.

She was Lapis Lazuli, after all.

 **THE END**


End file.
